Method and system for synchronizing operations of multiple groups

ABSTRACT

A method is disclosed for synchronizing operations of at least a first group on a first server and a second group on a second server. The method includes establishing an association between the first group and the second group using a pre-set association identifier, receiving operation information containing a type of operation and specifying an operation, and performing the operation specified by the operation information on the first group. The method also includes sending the operation information and the association identifier to the second server, receiving the operation information and the association identifier, and searching the second group corresponding to the association identifier. Further, the method includes performing an operation corresponding to the type of the operation information on the second group based on the type of the operation information.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of PCT application no.PCT/CN2011/071951, filed on Mar. 18, 2011, which claims the priority ofChinese patent application no. 201010139002.0, filed on Mar. 18, 2010,the entire contents of all of which are incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of Internet technology and,more particularly, relates to techniques for synchronizing operations ofmultiple groups.

BACKGROUND

With the rapid development of communication technologies, InstantMessaging (IM) has become a mainstream application trend on theInternet. IM not only provides users with a one-to-one chat model, butalso provides a many-to-many group model. In the group model, a groupmessage from any member of the group is sent to all other members of thegroup, and the group information of the group members also needs to bemanaged.

Correspondingly, in the Social Networking Services (SNS) on theInternet, services similar to the group model are also provided, i.e.,the SNS groups, such as classes, groups, and so on.

However, the different group models often do not have connectionsbetween each other. For example, with respect to the above mentioned twogroup models, the group from the network services and the IM group oftencannot be combined, the status of these two groups often cannot berelated to each other, and any operation on one group model often cannotbe reflected in the other group model.

The disclosed methods and systems are directed to solve one or moreproblems set forth above and other problems.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

One aspect of the present disclosure includes a method for synchronizingoperations of at least a first group on a first server and a secondgroup on a second server. The method includes establishing anassociation between the first group and the second group using a pre-setassociation identifier, receiving operation information containing atype of operation and specifying an operation, and performing theoperation specified by the operation information on the first group. Themethod also includes sending the operation information and theassociation identifier to the second server, receiving the operationinformation and the association identifier, and searching the secondgroup corresponding to the association identifier. Further, the methodincludes performing an operation corresponding to the type of theoperation information on the second group based on the type of theoperation information.

Another aspect of the present disclosure includes a system forsynchronizing operations of multiple groups. The system includes a firstserver containing an associating module and a second server coupled tothe first server. The associating module is configured to establish anassociation between a first group on the first server and a second groupon the second server using a pre-set association identifier. The firstserver is configured to receive operation information, to perform anoperation specified by the operation information on the first group, andto send the operation information and association identifier to thesecond server. Further, the second server is configured to receive theoperation information and the association identifier, to search thesecond group corresponding to the association identifier, and, based ona type of the operation information, to perform an operationcorresponding to the type of the operation information on the secondgroup.

Another aspect of the present disclosure includes a group server. Thegroup server includes an associating module configured to establish anassociation between a first group on the group server and a second groupon another server using a pre-set association identifier. The groupserver also includes a first operating module configured to, after thegroup server receives the operation information, perform an operationspecified by the operation information on the first group. Further, thegroup server includes a sending module configured to send the operationinformation and the association identifier to the other server such thatthe other server can searching the second group corresponding to theassociation identifier and performs an operation corresponding to thetype specified by the operation information on the second group.

Another aspect of the present disclosure includes a computer-readablemedium. The computer-readable medium contains executable computerprogram, when executed by one or more processors, for performing amethod for synchronizing operations of at least a first group on a firstserver and a second group on a second server. The method includesestablishing an association between the first group and the second groupusing a pre-set association identifier, receiving operation informationcontaining a type of operation and specifying an operation, andperforming the operation specified by the operation information on thefirst group. The method also includes sending the operation informationand the association identifier to the second server, receiving theoperation information and the association identifier, and searching thesecond group corresponding to the association identifier. Further, themethod includes performing an operation corresponding to the type of theoperation information on the second group based on the type of theoperation information.

Other aspects of the present disclosure can be understood by thoseskilled in the art in light of the description, the claims, and thedrawings of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary process for synchronizing operations ofmultiple groups consistent with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates another exemplary process for synchronizingoperations of multiple groups consistent with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates another exemplary process for synchronizingoperations of multiple groups consistent with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates another exemplary process for synchronizingoperations of multiple groups consistent with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary server forsynchronizing operations of multiple groups consistent with thedisclosed embodiments; and

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary environment incorporating certaindisclosed embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of theinvention, which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Whereverpossible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout thedrawings to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary environment 600 incorporating certaindisclosed embodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6,environment 600 may include a communication network 602, a first server604, a second server 606, a third server 608, a client 610, and a client612. The number of the servers and clients are used for illustrativepurposes, any number of servers and clients may be included.

A server, as used herein, may refer to any appropriate computer systemfor hosting one or more group, such as an SNS group and/or IM group. Forexample, first server 604 may host or have a first group, second server606 may host or have a second group, and third server 608 may host orhave shared resources from the first server 604 and second server 606(the first server 604 and the second server 606 may also be called groupservers). The first server 604, the second server 606, and the thirdserver 608 may communicate with each other over communication network602.

Although the first server 604, the second server 606, and the thirdserver 608 are shown as separate servers, some or all of the firstserver 604, the second server 606, and the third server 608 may coincidein one server or computer system.

A server may also include certain components or devices to carry outvarious functionalities. For example, a server may include a processor,memory modules such as ROM, RAM, and flash memory modules, storagemedium such as CD-ROM, U-disk, removable hard disk, etc., I/O devicessuch as keyboard and mouse, network devices for establishing connectionsthrough the communication network 502, and database(s) for storingcertain operational and system data. Other devices may also be included.

Further, client 610 and client 612 may be any appropriate clientterminal of any of the servers, i.e., any appropriate user terminal withcertain computing capabilities, such as a personal computer (PC), a workstation computer, a server computer, a hand-held computing device(tablet), a smart phone or mobile phone, or any other user-sidecomputing device. For example, client 610 may be a client of firstserver 604, second server 606, and/or third server 608, and client 610may also be a client of first server 604, second server 606, and/orthird server 608. Other configurations may also be used. For example, incertain embodiments, client 610 and client 612 may be coincide in asingle client, and client 610 and/or client 612 may be coincide withserver 604 and/or server 606, etc.

Further, client 610 and/or client 612 may communicate with the firstserver 604, second server 606, and/or third server 608 through a directconnection or through communication network 602. Different servers mayhave different storage formats and coding formats, etc. A formatconversion system may be configured at the server side to allowcommunications between different servers and/or between servers andclients.

Communication network 602 may include any appropriate type ofcommunication network for providing network connections to the servers604, 606, and 608 and/or clients 610 and 612. For example, communicationnetwork 602 may include the Internet or other type of computer networkor telecommunication network, either wired or wireless based on certainnetwork protocols, such as HTTP, TCP, UDP, etc.

For illustrative purposes, the first server 604 may have an SNS group (afirst group), and the second server 606 may have an IM group (a secondgroup). An SNS group, as used herein, may refer to the SNS groupinvolving interactions among contact people, that is, a group formed bymultiple people based on a certain Internet SNS community, such as analumni class using the name of the class and school as the unit or aninterest group using certain common interest as the unit, etc. Forexample, the SNS group may include users, user information, a user list,and shared resources, etc. The user information may include, but notlimited to, user name, IM number, user ID, and class name, etc.

An IM Group, as used herein, may refer to an Internet-based real-timecommunication group with a large number of people, that is, a groupformed by multiple people on a server for a same type IM tool, such asan MSN group and a QQ group, etc. The IM group may include groupmembers, group information, a group member list, and shared resources,etc. The group information may include, but not limited to, class groupID, class group itself, member data and information, class, age, school,and other key information. The first and second groups may also be twoother groups on the Internet or have a collective relationship.

The first server 604 and/or the second server 606 may be configured toperform certain operations on the SNS group and the IM group and theoperations may be synchronized cross these two or more groups. FIG. 1illustrates an exemplary process 100 for synchronizing operations ofmultiple groups.

As shown in FIG. 1, at the beginning, an association may be establishedbetween the first group on the first server and the second group on thesecond server using a pre-set association identifier (101).

The first server may receive operation request or operation informationfrom a user on a client of the first server. After receiving theoperation information, the first server may perform an operationspecified by the operation information on the first group, such as abinding or unbinding operation (102). Multiple operations may also berequested and performed.

Further, the first server sends the operation information and theassociation identifier to the second server (103); and the second serverreceives the operation information and the association identifier (104).

After receiving the operation information and the associationidentifier, the second server searches a second group corresponding tothe first group based on the association identifier (105). Further, thesecond server performs an operation corresponding to the type specifiedby the operation information on the second group (106).

FIG. 2 illustrates a more detailed exemplary process 200 forsynchronizing the operations of multiple groups. As shown in FIG. 2, anSNS group user or a corresponding computer program may visit the SNSgroup on the client and may initiate a request to associate with an IMgroup (201). When the user requesting the association is anadministrator of the SNS group and/or the corresponding IM group, theuser may directly start the association, without asking whether theassociation operation is allowed;

On the other hand, when the user requesting the association is anordinary member of the SNS group and/or the corresponding IM group, theuser can request the administrator of the SNS group and/or thecorresponding IM group via mail or intra-group mail, etc., to associatethese two groups.

Based on the user's user information in the SNS group, the first serverhosting the SNS group sends a request for obtaining the groupinformation corresponding to the user information to the second serverhosting the IM group (202). Optionally, the user information and/orgroup information may be encrypted according to the pre-setconfiguration between the servers or between the groups.

Further, based on the received request, the second server searches anddetermines whether there is any group information corresponding to theuser information on the second server (203). The second server mayperform the searching using any appropriate information to determinewhether there is corresponding group information. For example, thesecond server may use the ID of the user requesting to associate withthe IM group to search the group containing the ID of the user on thesecond server. More specifically, the information filled by the user inthe SNS group may include the user's IM number. The IM number may thenbe used to query whether the IM number belongs to any group on thesecond server.

If the IM number belongs to one or more group, the second server hascorresponding group information; if the IM number does not belong to anygroup, the second server does not have corresponding group information.Further, in addition to the user's ID, other information can also beused to perform the search, such as the name of the user's SNS group orthe other information of the user in the SNS group (including therelated school and related district, etc.).

The second server may have the IM group corresponding to the SNS group,or the second server might not have the IM group corresponding to theSNS group. If the second server determines there is not correspondinggroup information (203; N), the second server may obtain the userinformation from the SNS group on the first server and, based on theuser information, establish a corresponding IM group (204). That is,when there is no corresponding IM group, the user information may beobtained from the SNS group on the first server, and an IM group may becreated based on the user's requirement. After the corresponding IMgroup is established, the group information may be sent to the firstserver and the process 200 continues to 206.

On the other hand, if the second server determines there iscorresponding group information (203; Y), the second server may make thegroup corresponding to group information as the IM group associated withthe SNS group, and sending the group information to the first server(205).

Additionally or optionally, the second server may choose multiplecorresponding IM groups based on the request, determine at least one IMgroup to be associated based on the user's instruction; and then sendthe group information of the determined IM group to the first server.

The first server receives the group information corresponding to theuser information from the second server (206). Additionally, the firstserver may selectively store the received group information based on theuser's need. If the information of the two groups is not symmetric,i.e., the group information or the group members of these two groups arenot consistent, according to user settings, information of one group maybe obtained to the other group. That is, using the information from theone group as the basis to synchronize the data of the two groups.

After receiving the group information corresponding to the userinformation (206), and through certain network protocols, the firstserver establishes the corresponding relationship between theassociation identifier and the SNS group, and also establishes thecorresponding relationship between the association identifier and the IMgroup (207).

Further, if the first group has corresponding shared resources, and/orthe second group has corresponding share resources, the first serverand/or the second server may establish the corresponding relationshipbetween the association identifier and the shared resources in the firstgroup, and/or establishing the corresponding relationship between theassociation identifier and the shared resources in the second group.

Further, after associating together these groups, the user list of theSNS group (or the IM group) may be presented to the IM group (or the SNSgroup), and annotations may be added according to the user's status inthe IM group (or SNS groups). For example, if the SNS group includes auser A and the user A did not join the IM group, the status of A on theuser list may be annotated with “have not joined the IM group” or otherinformation.

Further, the association identifier may be used to associate togethergroups from two different servers in subsequent operation synchronizingprocesses.

The association identifier may be pre-set by the first server and thesecond server via negotiation; or one party may set the associationidentifier and notify the other party. Because the associationidentifier has a corresponding relationship with the other party, thecorresponding other party can be determined by the associationidentifier.

For example, if the first server sets the association identifier andnotifies the second server, because the association identifier has acorresponding relationship with the second group on the second server,the second group corresponding to the first group on the first servercan be determined by the association identifier. When a client hasmultiple second groups, any two of these second groups may correspond toa same association identifier or may correspond to different associationidentifiers.

For example, if the first group is an SNS group, the second group of theclient is the corresponding IM group, and there are two IM groups, thenan association identifier 1 may be set for the SNS group, and theassociation identifier 1 may also be set for the two IM groups. Orassociation identifier 1, association identifier 2, and associationidentifier 3 may be set for the SNS group and two IM groups,respectively, while the association identifier 1 corresponds toassociation identifier 2 and association identifier 3.

In addition, the association identifier may be a group number. Thecontent of the association identifier is not limited and can be definedin any form, such as letters, numbers, and strings, etc. Further, whenthe association identifier is sent to the second server, the location ofthe association identifier with respect to other information is also notlimited and can be defined as needed. For example, the associationidentifier may be defined as a prefix or suffix of other information. Aslong as the association identifier can be recognized by the first serverand the second server, no specific limitation is provided by thedisclosed embodiments of the present.

After associating the SNS group with the IM group (207), the firstserver and the second server (i.e., the SNS group and the IM group) maybe ready for synchronizing operations of multiple groups. For example,after the two groups establish the association relationship, when a userlogs in any group, the user can view the information of group(s)associated with that group. More specifically, when a user logs in theIM group, the user can view information of the SNS group associated withthe IM group, and the information may include the class name, enrollmentyear, number of class members, and class leader, etc. When the user logsin the SNS group, the user can view information of the IM groupassociated with the SNS group, and the information may include groupname, ID, and so on.

The operations may be synchronized based on a variety of operationinformation, such the type of operation, the content of operation, andthe action of operation, etc. In certain embodiments, operationinformation made by the user in a group may be categorized into varioustypes such as operations on the relationship chain, operations onposting information, operations on visiting shared resources, andoperations on searching relevant user information. Other types ofoperations may also be used.

Operations on the relationship chain may refer to operations on theuser's attributes and the relationship chain between users, such asoperations for deleting a user, joining the group, setting theadministrator, and setting group owner transfer, etc.;

Operations on posting information are not operations on the relationshipchain, but rather are operations initiated by the user, such as postinglogs, posting micro-blog, modifying status, posting messages, andwriting mood, etc.;

Operations on visiting shared resources may refer to the user visitingthe resources stored on the server, such as operations for accessing thee-mail system, viewing the album, sharing files, and downloading, etc.

Operations on searching relevant user information may refer tooperations for searching user information, and accessing the groupmember list, group member card, group member photo, and recentoperations, etc.

FIG. 2 continues illustrating the operation synchronizing process 200when the operation specified by the operation information is anoperation on the relationship chain.

After receiving the operation information specifying the operation, thefirst server performs the operation on the SNS group as specified by theoperation information (208). Further, when the first server performs thespecified operation, it may need to verify the client's authority. Onlythose clients with user privilege in the SNS group and user privilege inthe IM group can complete the above operations by communicating with theserver.

Further, the first server sends the operation information and theassociation identifier identifying the SNS group to the second server(209). The first server may send the operation information andassociation identifier by any appropriate means, such as report ore-mail, etc., based on certain network protocol, such as HTTP, TCP orUDP, etc.

The second server receives the operation information and associationidentifier (210). Additionally or optionally, due to potentiallydifferent data formats and storage formats on these two servers, thereceiving server may convert the information from the other server intoa format that can be understood by the receiving server.

Further, the second server searches the IM group corresponding to theSNS group based on the association identifier (211). More specifically,the IM group corresponding to the SNS group is the previous group whenthe association is established. The IM group may be one group ormultiple groups. An SNS group can correspond to multiple IM groups, and,similarly, an IM group can correspond to multiple SNS groups. When thereis a one-to-multiple situation, operations on one group may besynchronized into other groups, or selectively to certain groups basedon the user settings.

When selecting the certain group or groups, the relationship chainoverlapping degree (the degree of overlapping between the members of theSNS group and the members of the IM group) may need to be calculated.Preferably, the overlapping degree between the SNS group and IM groupcan reach a one-to-one level, i.e., the relationship chain is the same.At this time, synchronized operations in the SNS group and IM group canbe carried out.

The second server performs an operation specified by the operationinformation on the IM group (212). More specifically, the client of theIM group can choose whether to carry out such operation based on thecontents of the operation information. The IM group may prompt theoperation information to the client. If the user chooses to accept theoperation, the client continues the operation; if the user chooses notto accept the operation, the client may stop carrying out the operation.Whether or not the second server performs this operation may bedetermined by an agreement between the second server and the user.Further, the second server can also display the content of the operationinformation on the client of the IM group.

Although the above described interactions reflect the process ofsynchronizing a relationship chain operation into the IM group when theuser performs the relationship chain operation on the SNS group. Whenthere is any relationship chain operation on the IM group, suchoperation can also be synchronized similarly.

When the operation specified by the operation information is anoperation for posting information, where operations for postinginformation refer to operations used by the user to post logs, sendgroup messages, change status, and post photos, etc., but not operationson the relationship chain, the second server may also display content ofthe operation information on the client of the IM group when performingthe specified operation (212).

For example, when a user in the SNS group posts a new log, the firstserver sends the operation for posting the log and the associationidentifier identifying the SNS group to the second server. In additionto the interactions indicated in the 210 and 211 above, the secondservers also displays the operation for posting the log on the client ofthe IM group. For example, it may display “the user posted a log ‘Life’”on the client of the IM group. This operation can contain specificcontents of the posted log, and the specific contents may be pulledthrough the http protocol, udp protocol, or tcp protocol.

Although the above describes synchronizing operations for postinginformation to the IM group when the user performs information postingoperations in the SNS group, similar interactions can be used to performsynchronization when information posting operations occur in the IMgroup, such as posting new logs or generating chat messages or pictures,etc.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary process 300 for synchronizing operationsof multiple groups when the operation specified by the operationinformation is an operation in the SNS group for visiting sharedresource in the IM group. As shown in FIG. 3, the client of the SNSgroup may send the operation information for visiting the sharedresources in the IM group and the association identifier of the SNSgroup to a third server (301). Such visiting may including the clientvisiting any data stored on the server, such as operations for accessinge-mail, viewing the album, sharing files, and downloading, etc.

The third server may be a server storing the share resources between thefirst server and the second server. The first server may download theshared resources of the second server from the third server, or mayshare the shared resources with the second server through the thirdserver. For example, the third server can be a mail system server.

The three servers may communicate with one another through theassociation identifier. Further, the third server may have a resourcelist and SNS groups stored with IM group numbers, such as: file list,album list and so on. In addition, a corresponding resource(s) can alsobe obtained through a returned resource ID.

Further, based on the association identifier of the SNS group, the thirdserver searches the shared resources of the IM group corresponding tothe SNS group (302). The third server may find the correspondingresource list based on the group number of the IM group, and theresource list may include the ID of the corresponding resource. Aftersearching the shared resources, the third server sends the found sharedresources of the IM group to the client of the SNS group (303).

It should be noted that, although the disclosed embodiments describe theprocess for searching shared resources from the third server based onthe association identifier and sending the shared resource to therequester when the user performs shared resource visiting operations inthe SNS group, the same principle can be used when the user performsshared resource visiting operations in the IM group, the details ofwhich are omitted herein.

Further, the above disclosed embodiments describe the process forsynchronizing operations on the SNS group to the IM group. When a userperforms an operation on the client of the IM group and the operationspecified by the operation information is querying related userinformation in the IM group, such as querying user information andaccessing group member list, group member card, group member photo, andrecent operations, etc., such operation may also be synchronized to theSNS group. FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary operation synchronizingprocess.

As shown in FIG. 4, the client of the IM group on the second server maysend a request message for querying certain user information to thesecond server (401). The second server may then send the request messageand the association identifier identifying the IM group to the firstserver (402).

The first server may receive the request message and the associationidentifier (403). The first server may also query the SNS groupcorresponding to the IM group based on the association identifier (404).Further, the first server may obtain information corresponding to therequest message from information of the SNS group (405).

After obtaining the corresponding information, the first server sendsthe obtained information to the second server (406). The second serverreceives the obtained information, and displays the obtained informationon the client of the IM group (407). Other actions may also be includedin process 400.

Additionally or optionally, if the operation in the IM group or the SNSgroup is an operation that needs to notify the user through mail or tipsas preconfigured by the user, when this type of operation occurs, thenetwork side may notify the user of the operation on the group by mailor tips.

Returning to FIG. 6, the first server 604, the second server 606, andthe third server 608 may be implemented through hardware, software, or acombination of hardware and software. FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplaryserver 500 for implementing the first server 604, the second server 606,and/or the third server 608 for synchronizing operations of multiplegroups.

As shown in FIG. 5, server 500 may include an associating module 501, afirst operating module 502, a sending module 503, a receiver module 504,a searching module 505, and a second operating module 506. Certainmodule(s) may be omitted and other modules may be added.

The associating module 501 may be configured to establish an associationbetween a first group on a first server and a second group on a secondserver using a pre-set association identifier. The first operatingmodule 502 may be configured to, after the first server receives theoperation information, perform an operation specified by the operationinformation on the first group.

The sending module 503 may be configured to send the operationinformation and the association identifier to the second server, and thereceiver module 504 may be configured to, for the second server, receivethe operation information and the association identifier.

Further, the searching module 505 may be configured to, for the secondserver, search the second group corresponding to the first group basedon the association identifier. The second operating module 506 may beconfigured to, for the second server, perform an operation correspondingto the type specified by the operation information on the second group.

More particularly, the associating module 501 may further include agroup information request unit 5011, a determining unit 5012, and anidentifying unit 5013. The group information request unit 5011 may beconfigured to, for the first server and based on the user information inthe first group, send a request for obtaining the group informationcorresponding to the user information to the second server having thesecond group.

The determining unit 5012 may be configured to, for the second serverand based on the request, search and determine whether there is anygroup information corresponding to the user information on the secondserver. If the determining unit 5012 determines there is correspondinggroup information, determining unit 5012 may make the groupcorresponding to the group information as the second group, and send thegroup information to the first server. On the other hand, if thedetermining unit 5012 determines there is not corresponding groupinformation, the determining unit 5012 may create a second groupcorresponding to the user information in the first group on the secondserver.

Further, the identifying unit 5013 may be configured to establish thecorresponding relationship between the association identifier and thefirst group, and also the corresponding relationship between theassociation identifier and the second group.

In addition, the associating module 501 may also include a firstshared-resource associating unit 5014 and second shared-resourceassociating unit 5015. The first shared-resource associating unit 5014may be configured to establish the corresponding relationship betweenthe association identifier and the shared resources corresponding to thefirst group. The second shared-resource associating unit 5015 may beconfigured to establish the corresponding relationship between theassociation identifier and the shared resources corresponding to thesecond group.

The second operating module 506 may further include a first operatingunit 5061, a second operating unit 5062, and a third operating unit5063. The first operating unit 5061 may be configured to perform theoperation on the second group as specified by the operation informationwhen the operation specified by the operation information received bythe second server is an operation on the relationship chain.

The second operating unit 5062 may be configured to send the contents ofthe operation information to the second group when the operationspecified by the operation information received by the second server isan operation for posting information.

Further, the third operating unit 5063 may be configured to search therelevant user information in the second group and to return the founduser information to the second server when the operation specified bythe operation information received by the second server is an operationfor querying relevant user information in the first group.

Additionally or optionally, the server 500 may also include ashared-resource module 507. The shared-resource module 507 may beconfigured to search the shared resources based on the associationidentifier and to send the shared resources to the first group, when thethird server receives the operation information and the associationidentifier, and the operation specified by the operation information isan operation for visiting the shared resources of the second group.

By establishing an association between the SNS group and thecorresponding IM group and carrying out real-time informationinteraction between the groups of these two models using certain networkprotocols, operations of the group of one model can be reflected in theassociated group, and resources of the group of one model can be sharedby the associated group. Thus, members of one group (SNS or IM group)can use this real-time interaction to manage the information in theassociated group (IM or SNS group), and the dependence and interactionbetween the groups of the two models can be increased. Otherapplications, advantages, alternations, modifications, or equivalents tothe disclosed embodiments are obvious to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for synchronizing operations of at leasta first user group on a first server and a second user group on a secondserver, comprising: establishing, by the first server, an associationbetween the first user group and the second user group using a pre-setassociation identifier; receiving, by the first server, operationinformation containing a type of operation and specifying an operation;performing, by the first server, the operation specified by theoperation information on the first user group; sending, by the firstserver, the operation information and the association identifier to thesecond server; receiving, by the second server, the operationinformation and the association identifier; searching, by the secondserver, the second user group corresponding to the associationidentifier; and performing, by the second server, an operationcorresponding to the type of the operation information on the seconduser group based on the type of the operation information, whereinestablishing the association between the first user group and the seconduser group further includes: based on user information of the first usergroup, sending, by the first server, a request for obtaining groupinformation corresponding to the user information to the second serverof the second user group; searching and determining, by the secondserver and based on the request, whether there is group informationcorresponding to the user information on the second server; when it isdetermined there is corresponding group information, making the groupcorresponding to the group information the second user group and sendingthe group information to the first server; when it is determined thereis not corresponding group information, creating the second user groupcorresponding to the user information of the first user group andsending the group information of the second user group to the firstserver; and establishing a corresponding relationship between theassociation identifier and the first user group and a correspondingrelationship between the association identifier and the second usergroup.
 2. The method according to claim 1, after establishing acorresponding relationship between the association identifier and thefirst user group and a corresponding relationship between theassociation identifier and the second user group, further including:establishing a corresponding relationship between the associationidentifier and a shared resource corresponding to the first user group;and establishing a corresponding relationship between the associationidentifier and a shared resource corresponding to the second user group.3. The method according to claim 2, further including: when a thirdserver receives the operation information and the association identifierand the operation specified by the operation information is an operationfor visiting the share resource of the second user group, searching, bythe third server, the shared resource based on the associationidentifier and sending the shared resource to the first user group.
 4. Amethod for synchronizing operations of at least a first user group on afirst server and a second user group on a second server, comprising:establishing, by the first server, an association between the first usergroup and the second user group using a pre-set association identifier;receiving, by the first server, operation information containing a typeof operation and specifying an operation; performing, by the firstserver, the operation specified by the operation information on thefirst user group; sending, by the first server, the operationinformation and the association identifier to the second server;receiving, by the second server, the operation information and theassociation identifier; searching, by the second server, the second usergroup corresponding to the association identifier; and performing, bythe second server, an operation corresponding to the type of theoperation information on the second user group based on the type of theoperation information, wherein performing the operation corresponding tothe type of the operation information on the second user group furtherincludes: when the operation specified by the operation informationreceived by the second server is an operation on a relationship chain,performing the operation on the second user group as specified by theoperation information; when the operation specified by the operationinformation received by the second server is an operation for postinginformation, sending contents of the operation information to the seconduser group; and when the operation specified by the operationinformation received by the second server is an operation for queryingrelevant user information in the first user group, searching therelevant user information in the second user group and returning thefound user information to the second server.
 5. The method according toclaim 4, wherein establishing the association between the first usergroup and the second user group further includes: based on userinformation of the first user group, sending, by the first server, arequest for obtaining group information corresponding to the userinformation to the second server of the second user group; searching anddetermining, by the second server and based on the request, whetherthere is group information corresponding to the user information on thesecond server; when it is determined there is corresponding groupinformation, making the group corresponding to the group information thesecond user group and sending the group information to the first server;when it is determined there is not corresponding group information,creating the second user group corresponding to the user information ofthe first user group and sending the group information of the seconduser group to the first server; and establishing a correspondingrelationship between the association identifier and the first user groupand a corresponding relationship between the association identifier andthe second user group.
 6. The method according to claim 5, afterestablishing a corresponding relationship between the associationidentifier and the first user group and a corresponding relationshipbetween the association identifier and the second user group, furtherincluding: establishing a corresponding relationship between theassociation identifier and a shared resource corresponding to the firstuser group; and establishing a corresponding relationship between theassociation identifier and a shared resource corresponding to the seconduser group.
 7. The method according to claim 6, further including: whena third server receives the operation information and the associationidentifier and the operation specified by the operation information isan operation for visiting the share resource of the second user group,searching, by the third server, the shared resource based on theassociation identifier and sending the shared resource to the first usergroup.
 8. A group server for communicating with a first server, whereinthe first server is configured to establish an association between afirst user group on the first server and a second user group on thegroup server using a pre-set association identifier; and to send theoperation information and the association identifier to the groupserver, the group server comprising: a plurality of memory modules; anda processor configured to: receive a request for obtaining groupinformation corresponding to the user information sent by the firstserver to the group server based on user information of the first usergroup; search and determine, based on the request, whether there isgroup information corresponding to the user information on the groupserver; when it is determined there is corresponding group information,make the group corresponding to the group information the second usergroup and sending the group information to the first server; when it isdetermined there is not corresponding group information, create thesecond user group corresponding to the user information of the firstuser group and sending the group information of the second user group tothe first server; establish a corresponding relationship between theassociation identifier and the first user group and a correspondingrelationship between the association identifier and the second usergroup; and search the second user group corresponding to the associationidentifier and performs an operation corresponding to the type specifiedby the operation information on the second user group.
 9. The groupserver according to claim 8, further including: send the operationinformation and the association identifier to the first server to causethe first server to: search the first user group corresponding to theassociation identifier from the group server; and based on a type of theoperation information sent from the group server, perform an operationcorresponding to the type of the operation information from the groupserver on the first user group.
 10. A non-transitory computer-readablemedium having executable computer program, when executed by one or moreprocessors, for performing a method for synchronizing operations of atleast a first user group on a first server and a second user group on asecond server, comprising: establishing, by the first server, anassociation between the first user group and the second user group usinga pre-set association identifier; receiving, by the first server,operation information containing a type of operation and specifying anoperation; performing, by the first server, the operation specified bythe operation information on the first user group; sending, by the firstserver, the operation information and the association identifier to thesecond server; receiving, by the second server, the operationinformation and the association identifier; searching, by the secondserver, the second user group corresponding to the associationidentifier; and performing, by the second server, an operationcorresponding to the type of the operation information on the seconduser group based on the type of the operation information, whereinperforming the operation corresponding to the type of the operationinformation on the second user group further includes: when theoperation specified by the operation information received by the secondserver is an operation on a relationship chain, performing the operationon the second user group as specified by the operation information; whenthe operation specified by the operation information received by thesecond server is an operation for posting information, sending contentsof the operation information to the second user group; and when theoperation specified by the operation information received by the secondserver is an operation for querying relevant user information in thefirst user group, searching the relevant user information in the seconduser group and returning the found user information to the secondserver.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according toclaim 10, wherein establishing the association between the first usergroup and the second user group further includes: based on userinformation of the first user group, sending, by the first server, arequest for obtaining group information corresponding to the userinformation to the second server of the second user group; searching anddetermining, by the second server and based on the request, whetherthere is group information corresponding to the user information on thesecond server; when it is determined there is corresponding groupinformation, making the group corresponding to the group information thesecond user group and sending the group information to the first server;when it is determined there is not corresponding group information,creating the second user group corresponding to the user information ofthe first user group and sending the group information of the seconduser group to the first server; and establishing a correspondingrelationship between the association identifier and the first user groupand a corresponding relationship between the association identifier andthe second user group.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumaccording to claim 10, after establishing a corresponding relationshipbetween the association identifier and the first user group and acorresponding relationship between the association identifier and thesecond user group, the method further including: establishing acorresponding relationship between the association identifier and ashared resource corresponding to the first user group; and establishinga corresponding relationship between the association identifier and ashared resource corresponding to the second user group.
 13. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 12, themethod further including: when a third server receives the operationinformation and the association identifier and the operation specifiedby the operation information is an operation for visiting the shareresource of the second user group, searching, by the third server, theshared resource based on the association identifier and sending theshared resource to the first user group.